16-sunday B

Good morning/evening every one, I am so happy to welcome you all for today’s holy Mass. My special welcome to all our parishioners, cottagers, visitors and every one who is here today, dear friends today we celebrate our life in Christ, we celebrate our body and soul by loving God with who we are and today we celebrate the unending love of Christ.

One day a woman called her pastor and said, ‘Father, my husband won two million dollars in a lottery but I am afraid to tell him. You know he has heart condition, his heart is weak and I don’t want anything to happen to him. If you don’t mind, would you please talk to him? The priest called him and said, ‘Hi Stephen, I have a question for you. If you win a million dollars, what will you do? He said, I will build a house and do some charity and I always want to send my wife back to Ireland. That is too much information. But by the way if you win two million dollars, what will you do? Stephen looked at the priest for a minute and said, ‘I will give million dollars to the church”. Imagine the priest took a heart attack and died.

And I know why you don’t give million dollars to the church because you love your priest and you don’t want me to be dead.

Then Stephen felt so guilty about the pastor’s death and did not come to church for long time and then when he finally came to church, he wanted to go to confession. When he saw the confessional, he was so surprised. Everything looked so different. There was a beautiful shelf full of chocolates, soft drinks, some magazines and water. Stephen looked at the priest and said, ‘Father, I have not been to confession for a while and I could not believe how much it changed. The priest looked at him and said, “Get out that is my side”. Stephen got so mad and left the church again and when he came back after a long time, he looked at the new priest, because the other pastor took a heart attack and died and said, “Father, do you know why people get arthritis?’ The priest who knew what happed to the former pastor looked at him and said, you know what causes arthritis, money, and too much money that is what causes arthritis. Smoking yes that is what causes arthritis and alcohol that is what causes arthritis and nightlife yes that is what causes arthritis. Then the priest calm down and looked at Steve and asked, ‘why did you ask me?’ Stephen innocently looked at the priest and said, ‘this morning I heard that the Pope has arthritis”.

And there are so many things about Stephen but if I continue to tell our Bishop will not like it because he thinks that I am stealing his jokes’.

Dear friends in Christ, in today’s gospel our Lord Christ who sent His apostles two by two to preach the Good News of the Kingdom to all looked at them how tired and exhausted they were. They were experiencing spiritual exhaustion and He asked them to come to a deserted place all by themselves and take rest.
Yes, Spiritual exhausted or weakness can happen to all people who put their faith into practice. When you pray for others by laying your hands on them, spend time with the sick person in the name of Christ and practice your faith to bring the Good News, it is possible to have spiritual exhaustion or weakness and many people especially saints and holy men and women were sick often because of their spiritual exhaustion. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ invites His disciples today to come to a deserted place and be with Him for a while.
Holy people spend time alone with God to regain spiritual strength to continue their mission and the greatness of being spiritually exhausted is as we lose, we will gain more strength and courage to continue.
And spiritual exhaustion happens to faithful people because there is a constant fight between good and bad in them. Once a grandson looked at his grandpa who looked so sad and asked why he was looking sad and he said, ‘my grand son there is a constant fight between two wolves in me. One is the good and the other bad. Grandson asked which one would win. The grand pa said the one, which I feed.
The people who come to church have to fight constantly because of their moral and ethical stand. Though they make right choice, they do get exhausted and feel week and that is why Jesus invites us to go to a deserted place and be with Him for a while.
And people who come to church and receive all the churches sacraments experience inner awakening namely all their five senses will be opened fully. As they have full awakening, they begin to see things differently. They will see the love and kindness of God in everything they say or do. They will see but also see the goodness of Lord in everything. They will taste but also taste the goodness of the Lord in everything and hear but also hear the goodness of the Lord in everything. This very awakening will make them exhausted or weak and that is why Jesus today invites us to go to a deserted place and be with Him for a while.
Conclusion:
Yes, Dear friends every time we come to Church or pray at home you can have deserted experience. When you are alone with Christ, the experience will fill you with spiritual energy and strength and you will be given more and more to continue your spiritual journey on earth. So let us find a place to be with Christ. Amen.